Sunday Meditation: Seeing the Father Through Jesus

The final three Sundays of the Easter season, leading to Pentecost Sunday, are devoted to highlighting Jesus’s Last Discourse sermon in John’s Gospel.  On the Fifth Sunday of Easter in Year A we get Jesus explaining He is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”  Three years ago I embedded Dr. Brant Pitre’s exegesis of this phrase.  But when the apostle Phillip asks Jesus to reveal the Father, Jesus gives another important response about seeing the Father in seeing Jesus.  Jesus is the living face of the Father.  But it’s even deeper than that.  Jesus goes on to say that the Father is in Him and He in the Father.  Here is the perfect image of the Trinity.  While there are three persons in God, it is One God because there is a sharing of the Godhead. 

So what is the face of the Father that we see in Jesus?  Gina Hens-Piazza, reflecting on this passage for America Media, sums it up nicely:

 

Thus, the fullness of Jesus’ humanity reveals the very nature of God. In Jesus’ compassion for the widow whose son had died (Lk 7:12-15), in his forgiveness of a woman caught in adultery (Jn 8:1-11), in his healing a paralytic man (Mt 9:1-8), in his healing of a man with a withered hand in spite of strict religious obstacles (Mt 12:9-14, Mk 3:1-6, Lk 6:6-11), in his determination to eat with a man known to have questionable background as a tax collector (Mt 9:10-17, Mk 2:15-22, Lk 5:29-39), and in his encounter with a Samaritan woman, to whom he first revealed his divine identity (Jn 4:4-42), humanity sees the true character of God.

 

 

 

Today’s Gospel:

 

 

Jesus said to his disciples:

"Do not let your hearts be troubled.

You have faith in God; have faith also in me.

In my Father's house there are many dwelling places.

If there were not,

would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?

And if I go and prepare a place for you,

I will come back again and take you to myself,

so that where I am you also may be.

Where I am going you know the way."

Thomas said to him,

"Master, we do not know where you are going;

how can we know the way?"

Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me.

If you know me, then you will also know my Father.

From now on you do know him and have seen him."

Philip said to him,

"Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us."

Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you for so long a time

and you still do not know me, Philip?

Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.

How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?

Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?

The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own.

The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.

Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me,

or else, believe because of the works themselves.

Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do,

and will do greater ones than these,

because I am going to the Father."

~Jn:14: 1-12

 

 

I found Fr. Cajetan Cuddy’s homily fascinating.  Fr, Cajetan seems to delve into some of the more complex theology in his homilies but here he says Jesus is simple and direct.

 

Fr. Cajetan:

In the midst of this storm of information and of data and of pixels, we want clarity…This is supremely true in the case of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He responds concisely, pithily, truthfully, with concision and precision: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.” 

 

Jesus identifies himself as the way, Himself as the truth, Himself as the life.  And yet there remain a plethora of ways, truths, and different lifestyles, claiming that there are other ways, other truths, other lifestyles that are consonant with what our Lord and who He was and indeed even who he is.  The evident problem with the responses of pluralism and diversity that diverge, not culturally different, personally different, but essentially different from what our Lord Himself revealed is that they don’t provide a cipher through which everyone can cut through all of the diverging claims about what it means to follow Jesus.  In other words, the fog of ideas and contradictory claims don’t bring precision. They don’t bring concision, and they don’t bring salvation, because salvation is precise, it is concise, it is simple, and it’s Jesus Himself. 

 

Jesus does not offer one path among many. He offers Himself. The confusion of the modern world cannot be resolved by more analysis or more perspectives, but only by returning to Christ.

 

How do we follow Jesus?  Turn to Him.  We are not saved by analysis or diverging viewpoints.  We are saved by Him.

For the pastoral homily, I will return to Archbishop Edward Weisenburger.  The Archbishop points out that in this scene Jesus is preparing the disciples for His departure.

 

 

Archbishop Weisenburger:

As the discussion continues, Thomas, it seems somewhat exasperated, blurts out, "Lord, just show us the way to the Father and that will be enough  for us." Jesus responds with those beautiful words, "How long have I been with you, Thomas, and still, you do not know me? Thomas, I am the way."  Okay, brothers and sisters, the meaning of that little phrase, "I am the way," holds a meaning that makes all the difference.  You see, in the first century of Judaism, the phrase "the way" was a metaphor for "life with God."  Today, we might call "the way" something more like "the spiritual journey" or "the life of faith." But the phrase was indeed a common one and very specific.  It seems Jesus is asserting that He alone the fullness of life with God. He alone has opened the door to heaven for all of humanity.

 

…I almost hear an echo of the anxious and frightened Thomas today.  His words, Thomas' 2,000 years ago, were, "Lord, we do not know where you are going.  How can we know the way?" Today, coming from our mouths, it might sound more like, "Lord, where in the world are we going, because it seems we have lost our way."  And for many in the fear, anxiety and struggles of today, what some have lost still goes back to that original meaning of "the way." It seems that some have lost the very relationship with God. And yet, if we listen attentively, does Jesus not respond to us today with   the same comforting words He first offered Thomas, and through Thomas, to all of us?  "Thomas, I am the way. I am the way."

 

Brothers and sisters, Jesus' words this weekend are powerful and critical.  We must not let any fears or anxieties of the day dampen our spirits or compromise our courage, our perseverance, and our determination. For while He has left us to take His place at the right hand of the Father, He is profoundly and wonderfully with us and remains with us forever.  And those who are on the way with Him can never be lost.

 

Again, Jesus is the way, and when you realize this, truly realize it, your heart will no longer be troubled.

 

 

Sunday Meditation: "Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?”

 

This is such beautiful hymn, “I Received the Living God,” performed by The Cathedral Singers.

 

The Lyrics:

Refrain:

I received the living God,

and my heart is full of joy.

I received the living God,

and my heart is full of joy.

 

Jesus said: "I am the Bread

Kneaded long to give you life;

You who will partake of me

Need not ever fear to die." [Refrain]

 

Jesus said: "I am the Way,

And my Father longs for you;

So I come to bring you home

To be one with him anew." [Refrain]

 

Jesus said: "I am the Truth;

If you follow close to me,

You will know me in your heart,

And my word shall make you free." [Refrain]

 

Jesus said: "I am the Life

Far from whom no thing can grow,

But receive this living bread,

And my Spirit you shall know." [Refrain]